Business: Coming: The Crunch of '79

Iran started turning off its oil spigots last October and completely
shut down exports on Dec. 26, but the resulting shortage in world crude
supplies has not yet significantly hit oil-thirsty consumers. The
crunch of '79, however, will soon become real enough to hurt. The last
tankers loaded with Iranian crude have completed their monthlong,
11,000-mile voyage to America's East Coast ports and more and more
large U.S. oil companies are cautiously beginning to husband their
stockpiles to prepare for a long energy siege.